Rachel Berry and Nothing Less
by FinchelFanfictionAwards
Summary: Rachel Berry from Kindergarten to Senior Year. How Finn has been involved in her life all along, and her struggles with friends, family, and her inevitable stardom.
1. Kindergarten

Ch. 1- First day of Kindergarten

Rachel Berry clutched her butterfly lunchbox in one hand and her daddy's hand in the other. This was the first day of _Kindergarten_. No more swing sets and puzzles for Rachel Berry anymore, now it was time to get down to business. She had things to learn.

When Rachel woke up this morning she had never been more determined in her life. Her dad had to kiss her goodbye at six in the morning, apologizing because he couldn't be there on her first day (the duties of a lawyer.) Rachel had promised her dad she'd be a big girl on her first day of elementary school. She had already picked out her outfit, a pink checkerboard dress with white tights and silver sparkly shoes. And her Winnie the Pooh backpack was already packed with her new folder and box of crayons.

But now sitting out in front of her Kindergarten classroom, Rachel could feel her confidence shake a little bit.

"Daddy," Rachel whispered, "you'll be here to pick me up after school right? Take me out for ice cream like you promised?"

"Of course pumpkin. Now you have to let go of my hand, your first day of school is going to start soon! I love you sweetie." Her daddy bent down to kiss her on the cheek.

Rachel entered the classroom where the teacher greeted her and told her to find the table and seat with her name on it. Rachel walked around the classroom and finally found the seat with her name. She looked around to see that a girl named Katherine had already taken her seat at her and Rachel's table. There were still two empty chairs yet to be filled. One named Artie and the other Finn. Rachel sat down at the table and smiled shyly at Katherine. Katherine smiled back but then started looking around the classroom, seemingly not interested in conversation. Rachel looked down at her nametag and saw that it was covered in gold stars. She liked that. Rachel had been taking dance lesson since she was born and had been always told she was a star. Rachel's head shot up when she heard a voice.

"Hi I'm Artie!" A little boy with round glasses and a sweater vest yelled as he bounced into his seat. "What's your name?"

"Rachel Barbra Berry." Rachel replied quietly.

"Oh I like that name! Hey I like your butterfly lunchbox. My lunchbox is Star Wars. I love Star Wars." Artie replied, "Is your name Katherine?" Artie directed his attention to the other girl at the table.

"Yes. I like Star Wars too!" The girl said, she had a surprisingly loud voice.

"Cool! I'm so glad I've already made friends!" Artie shouted. Rachel's expression perked up at the word friends. She liked the sound of that.

Rachel watched as another boy came to join the table. He was dressed in a collared shirt and khaki shorts. He had some freckles and brown hair.

"Hi my name is Finn." The boy said and took the last empty spot at the table.

They all introduced themselves and the four of them continued to talk. Rachel was loving it. Three friends all in one day? She was so excited she almost peed herself. The rest of the day went by fantastically. She, Katherine, Artie, and Finn all played together at recess. They laughed together when the teacher made a funny noise, and they colored together during quiet time. Rachel especially thought Finn was great. He was _so_ funny, and could do the perfect impersonation of Sponge Bob Square Pants laugh.

When the day was over Rachel was sad to leave Kindergarten. She greeted her daddy with a giant hug and a huge grin. She told him all about her new friends over ice cream. So far, Kindergarten had been the best day of her life.

**Review! :) Each grade will get about two or three chapters.**


	2. Tough Day

Ch 2- Tough Day

It was mid November and Rachel still loved Kindergarten. Katherine and she had become closer then ever. They had play dates at each others houses and Katherine cheered Rachel on as she sang at the top of her lungs on top of the slide at recess. Artie was still their friend but he liked to play kick ball at recess and the girls really weren't into that. Finn was still their friend as well, but ever since they switched seats the foursome hadn't been as close. Finn and Rachel still colored and did math facts together during school time but they never really talked outside of the classroom. Rachel also didn't like the people Finn had made friends with. Noah Puckerman gave the teachers headaches and others boys were just as rowdy.

One day Rachel was sitting on a curb eating celery sticks when Katherine approached her.

"Hey Rachel," Katherine approached Rachel hesitantly; "I don't really want to be your friend anymore."

Rachel gasped, "Why not?"

"Well you know how my dad picked me up from our last play date, and you introduced him to your dads? My daddy said that I'm not aloud to have friends like you. He says a family is only a family with a daddy _and_ a mommy. Sorry Rachel, but now that girl Santana said I could be her friend." With that Katherine turned her back and never looked twice at Rachel again.

Rachel was devastated. Her fathers' had always told her that having two daddies made her even more special, and that a very kind woman offered to have Rachel so that the both of them could love her. They told her that families came in all different shapes and sizes. That night Rachel went home and cried to her two dads. Her daddy held her and said that some people weren't open to different types of families. Rachel didn't understand. How could someone not like her two fathers? Was having a mom that great? Rachel couldn't see it when her head was buried in her daddy's shoulder, but the look that was exchanged between her parents was one of sadness, but something they had been expecting. Her dads had been nervously waiting the day when their little girl would come crying home asking why she was being judged. Thankfully, Rachel hadn't been too curious yet on the whereabouts of her mother. Probably because their little girl didn't realize that technically every person had a mom. Hiram and Leroy let Rachel have the day off the next day; they doted on her and let her sing karaoke. Pretty soon Rachel was back to her confident self, but when she did return to school the first thing Rachel saw was Katherine and Santana playing hopscotch. All year Rachel waited to be included. She never was.

The year continued and Rachel found that Artie talked to her less and less, and Finn was always really self conscious when he colored with Rachel. She ended up spending recess inside with the teachers helping them get ready for the next lesson.

By the time May rolled around Rachel knew how to spell, read a chapter book, add numbers, and she considered herself a champion at coloring inside the lines. Sure she wasn't invited to Santana Lopez's tea party at the end of the year, but she still had her dads and she had had a lot of fun taking singing and dancing lessons all year. On the last day on Kindergarten Rachel was able to take home her nametag with the gold stars, she saw Finn with Noah and what looked like Finn's mom.

"Bye Finn! I'll see you next year!" Rachel said.

Finn gave a halfhearted wave while his mother looked curiously at Finn.

"Finn, who _is_ that girl? There's a giraffe on her turtleneck sweater." Noah looked at Finn.

"Uh, just some girl who was in my class." Finn said and walked away from Rachel. Rachel's heart crushed. While she did come far with her academic progress, Rachel couldn't help but feel a little empty inside with her lack of friends.

That night Rachel hung her gold star nametag on her wall. She'd been improving immensely with her dancing and singing. In that moment when Rachel saw those gold stars she knew what she was meant to do. Singing was her future. Who needed thousands of friends? Not her! Rachel Berry was a star that could fly on her own!

And yet, when she lay in her bed she couldn't help herself but hope that first grade would be better.


	3. First Grade

Ch 3- First Grade

"Lunchbox?"

"Check!"

"Markers/Crayons/Colored Pencils?"

"Check!"

"How about you silent reading book your dad got you? Do you have that pumpkin?"

"_Junie B. Jones First Grader at Last _is in my front pocket of my backpack Daddy!"

"That's my superstar! I guess my little girl is ready for her first day of first grade! I'm so proud of you baby!" Rachel's daddy's eyes welled with tears. He was an emotional man.

"Yup Daddy! And I'm a real big girl now because I go to school from 8-3 and I didn't do _that_ in Kindergarten, plus," Rachel paused dramatically, "I have_ homework_."

Rachel was pretending that she was upset about getting homework, but in reality she was so excited. She loved receiving A papers, perhaps her signature gold star next to her perfect score. First grade was not for baby Kindergartners!

Rachel's daddy dropped her off with a promise to get ice cream after school (first day of school tradition). When Rachel found out her first grade teacher and room number she immediately ran to the classroom. She had to wait for fifteen minutes for school to start, awkwardly standing by a group of girls who were talking about their summer vacations. (How could Rachel talk about her vigorous activity in improving her ballet and perfect pitch?)When the bell rang the class of 26 students lined up in the back of the classroom, waiting to be assigned their seat. Rachel noticed that Katherine was not in her class (there were two classes per grade- each one had 26 students in it), however she did recognize that Santana girl and her partner in crime Brittany were in the line of students.

The teacher began to read off a list of names. Rachel waited anxiously to hear hers. She wanted to sit in the front (maximum learning opportunities.) But to Rachel's horror she wasn't called until the last row of seats. She was sitting in the back! This would not do! The teacher called the last few students.

"Noah Puckerman, you will be seated here. Rachel Berry right next to him, and Finn Hudson on the other side of Miss Berry, please."

Rachel's mouth dropped. She _refused_ to sit in between two boys. Even though she and Finn had been friends last year, she couldn't help but remember the sting of the last day of school when Finn blatantly ignored her. However, her dad and daddy expected her to be a grown up, so she took her seat without complaint.

"Hey Finn! This is awesome were sittin' in the back next to each other!" Noah leaned all the way over Rachel's desk to whisper to Finn.

"Yeah! This is so cool!" Finn responded.

"Too bad bunny sweater has to sit in between us!" Noah said, not even acknowledging that Rachel was right there.

Rachel sighed. "Excuse me boys, but can you _please_ not talk over me. Especially you Noah! You're spitting on my nice clean desk." Rachel glared at him.

Noah's ears turned red, "Do. Not. Call. Me. That. My name is Puck! PUCK! PUCK!"

"That is a ridiculous name! I know your mother! I've seen her at temple! She calls you Noah, Noah!" Rachel spat.

"Yeah because she's my mom! What do you know? You don't even have a mom! My name is Puck."

Rachel's face burned at the mother comment. However she chose to ignore it for the time being. Instead Rachel turned to Finn. "Finn, tell Noah he is being ridiculous, please." Rachel looked at Finn expectantly. She and Finn were still kind of friends, right?

Finn felt Rachel and Puck's eyes bore into him. Puck was like, his best friend so he couldn't just ignore him. But he kind of felt bad for Rachel… still, Puck was his buddy.

"Um, Rachel. His name is Puck."

"Ha. Loser! Told you." Puck and Finn high fived.

"You…. you…. _boys_!" Rachel huffed and took out her outside reading book. The thing that they should haven been doing in the first place.

Finn and Puck snickered and continued to whisper over Rachel. Finn obviously was not her friend anymore. And this was obviously going to be a very, very long year.

For weeks to come Rachel's parents would hear the complaints and hysterics about Rachel's seating arrangement.

"Dad! Daddy! It's awful. Noah makes _farting_ noises _all_ the time. And he sticks pieces of paper in my _hair_. He has no respect for the teacher, and of course Finn just sits there! Doing _nothing_! While I'm trying to _learn_!"

"Well Rachel, you don't have to take everything so seriously, honey. Have you ever just tried to laugh it off, or ignore them?"

"Dad you don't understand! Don't they know I'm going to be on Broadway? They _should_ respect me," Rachel huffed.

Rachel's dads exchanged looks of concern. For the past couple of months Rachel had been walking around proclaiming that she was going to be a Broadway star when she grew up. They were hoping it was just a phase, because while their daughter was extremely talented, Rachel was becoming a little hot- headed. Also, they didn't want Rachel to realize when she was older how hard, and almost impossible it is to become a "Broadway Star."

Rachel's daddy looked down, "Honey, your father and I are very sorry that these two boys are giving you a hard time but we've also been discussing this Broadway situation lately. We think that it's great you have all these dreams, but we want you to try other things too! So we've signed you up for soccer this coming season. You'll be meeting other girls your age and trying something new."

"But _Daddy_! I'm not a soccer player! I'm destined for _fame_." Rachel's eyes crossed in panic.

"We know your special sweetie, but we want you to try other things," her Dad said softly and then added hesitantly, "we also want you to make friends."

Rachel blew up in screams and tears. The subject of friends was quite a touchy one. A few weeks ago Rachel's teacher had called informing the Berry parents that their daughter, while very smart, was having a tough time making friends. It seemed Rachel's tactic to making friends was either bossing them around or bragging. The other girls in her class were kind of scared of her. Rachel's parents had been trying to talk to her about it, but Rachel always got extremely upset.

"I REFUSE TO DO STUPID SOCCER! I don't NEED friends!" Rachel screamed tears flowing down her face, "And I most definitely don't need you people!" Rachel turned around (still screaming) and stomped up the stairs, "AND I HATE NOAH PUCKERMAN AND FINN HUDSON!"

The Berry men turned to each other. Rachel would of course kick and scream until she got her way, but they really wanted Rachel to try something new. Who knew that raising a six year old drama queen would be so hard?


	4. Lucy

**We meet a familiar face this chapter. ****:) Remember the plot line from "Born this Way." **

Rachel had come to terms with the fact that she would be on the Shooting Star soccer team this coming season. And while she would never admit to it, she was actually kind of excited. Her dad had bought her a pink soccer ball and Rachel had been practicing her dribbling and kicking. While anyone else could see that Rachel was awful, and downright not athletic, Rachel was pretty proud of herself.

The first day of practice was on a Tuesday after school. The team was meeting for the first time. Rachel's coaches introduced themselves as Jake and Mollie, and immediately shortened Rachel's name to Rach. Rachel liked that, she felt accepted.

The group of girls got in a line. In total there were 14 girls on the team. None of them went to Rachel's school. They all went into a line and stated their names and favorite thing to do besides, of course, play soccer.

"I'm Jackie and I like to play the cello!" A tall girl with curly hair stated.

"Hi Jackie!" The coaches replied, almost a little too enthusiastically.

"Claire! Swimming!"

"My name's Ally and I paint!"

"Jaime and I love to shop with my older sister!"

The girls went down the line and while some paused on what they liked to do, Rachel knew exactly what to say. She was second to last though in line, so she had to be patient. (Something her parents had been working on with her.)

After the girl next to Rachel went, (May and she liked to read Harry Potter) it was finally Rachel's turn.

"Hi my name is Rachel Barbra Berry and I like to SING!" Rachel stated.

"Hi Rachel!" all the girls said. Rachel beamed.

The last girl next to Rachel went. She was a short chubby girl and a nose that kind of looked like Rachel's. With glasses and dirty blonde hair.

When she spoke her voice was very soft, "My name is Lucy Fabray and I like to sing, too." Lucy smiled shyly at Rachel. Rachel smiled back, she liked Lucy already!

Practice started and they were all ordered to pair up, Rachel kindly asked Lucy if she wanted to be her partner. Lucy agreed and the girls started working on a passing drill.

"So Lucy, who's your favorite singer?" Rachel asked.

Lucy looked at Rachel. "I don't really have one."

"Don't have one? That's crazy talk! Every singer has a favorite singer!" Rachel replied.

"Well who's your favorite?" Lucy asked, legitimately interested.

"Barbra Streisand of course!"

"Who's that?"

"Only the most iconic and brilliant woman _ever_." Rachel flailed her arms around.

And with that Rachel went in to her rendition of "Don't Rain on My Parade." Something she had been perfecting since she was three years old. Lucy was in awe. She clapped and hollered when she was done. "Wow Rachel, you are amazing! I wish my voice was strong like yours!"

Rachel glowed, "Lucy, I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship."

From that day on it was pretty obvious that Rachel and Lucy weren't going anywhere as far as soccer was concerned. The two often sang and danced all through practice, and while the coaches weren't thrilled, they were only six and seven year olds. Lucy was very slow, and Rachel uncoordinated when it came to balls. So the two would just laugh and giggle when they sat on the bench during games. But it was required for every player to play, and so Rachel and Lucy would often just hang out by the goal hoping the ball wouldn't be kicked to them.

Even though Rachel failed miserably at soccer, her parents were thrilled with Rachel's new friendship. While the other girls were always polite and nice to Rachel, it was obvious that Lucy and she just clicked. Lucy's parents were also over the moon about the friendship. Lucy suffered terrible bullying at school for her weight and thick glasses. Rachel was like a ray of sunshine in the Fabray household. And the Fabray's couldn't care less that Rachel had two gay dads, a relief for the Berry's.

After every game the Fabray's and Berry's went out for yogurt. Rachel would tell Lucy all about school (can you _believe_ I'm still sitting next to Finn and Noah?) and Lucy would tell Rachel about her troubles (there's this boy named Jesse St. James and he _always_ makes fun of me.)

When Rachel's birthday came around in December, she invited her one and only best friend over. Lucy and she had a karaoke tea party, and they both had their very first sleepover. They watched Ice Age and her dads made popcorn. That night as they whispered to each other Rachel asked Lucy a question.

"Lucy if you had one wish in the entire world what would it be?"

Lucy sighed, "I'd wish to be liked. To maybe be popular."

Rachel glanced up towards the ceiling, "I know what you mean. There are these three girls at my school. They get everyone's attention. Everybody loves them. I guess I'd want to be liked like them. Santana, Brittany, and Katherine rule the school. But we don't need them right Luce? We got each other!"

Lucy smiled, "I guess Rachel. But we don't even go to the same school!"

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Who cares?"

The two continued to talk and both fell asleep around 11:30. Even though Rachel couldn't see it, Lucy's inner desire to be popular took up a huge part of her life. She longed for the day to look more like her mother. Blonde and skinny. But Rachel didn't need to know that.

Lucy's mom came to pick her up the next morning. And in childlike fashion, Lucy hid from her mother in hopes that she wouldn't have to go home. "Lucy Quinn Fabray get out here right now, we have church!" Lucy hugged Rachel tightly goodbye.

"I'll see you at the year end team soccer party next week, Rach."

"Okay." Rachel hugged Lucy back even tighter.

When her dad closed the door he picked Rachel up into a baby cradle. Rachel started giggling widely. "Looks like soccer wasn't a bad idea after all, right Rachel?"

"Nope, Daddy! It wasn't," Rachel said sincerely, "but I'm still becoming a Broadway star!"

There was nothing her daddy could do but laugh, "Of course princess, I hope you know we are behind your dreams 100 percent of the time from now on."

Rachel had never felt happier.

**Hope you liked the Quinn intro. Review with your thoughts! Many different Glee characters are going to be incorporated, but Finn will be back in focus next chapter!**


End file.
